Grrl Power #610 – Just a little off the top
This is the page where I draw a character giving herself a haircut because I liked her hair when it was short better. Also maybe foreshadowing some of Deus’s plans. My wife does this to her hair about every five months. Just… not with her laser wings.
Hey look, Deus can draw. No, he’s not an author insert. If he was, he’d be using a shmancy mechanical pencil and not a No. 2 like a savage.
At least, I used to use mechanical pencils. I’ve been all digital since starting the comic. It’s just so much faster. When you draw something on paper, and it’s the wrong size >cough< heads >cough< you can’t just lasso it and resize it. You have to completely erase it and redraw it like some sort of caveman. Anyway, I have an unreasonably large collection of expensive mechanical pencils I haven’t used in nearly a decade.
At least I haven’t lost all my meatspace drawing muscle memory. After I drew the eraser shavings in that bottom middle panel, I tried to brush them off with the side of my hand.
I actually forgot that February only has 28 days in it because 1) I’m a dummy, and 2) I haven’t gone to school or a regular job in years – for which I thank you guys for the support! Whoop woo! If I wasn’t married to someone with a regular job and didn’t post this comic on a regular schedule, I would literally have no idea what day of the week it is. The point is I don’t quite have a new vote incentive ready yet. I know the current one is mad stale.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
REALLY, she shouldn’t get her hands on that.
And SmugD should? o_O
It’s more fitting for an end-boss than a mid-boss.
Mid-bosses wield the terrifying artifact, but can’t fully utilise it for one reason or other. When they are ganked, the artifact meanders on over to the end-boss’s inventory – possibly by way of the hero. And the end-boss? *They* know how to use it properly.
So what’s the best way for the end-boss to get it? Why, take it from the mid-boss, of course. As Dues just pointed out, it’s easier to let Sciona get it for him.
Vale seems to think that too. A sign of decency, or just cautiousness? I’m counting it towards the “Vale wanted to be a hero” theory.
Or kinda likes living on a world that has not been sucked into the seventh layer of Hell!
It goes without saying that if Sciona wants some ancient artifact that she probably shouldn’t be allowed to get her hands on it, but do we even know what it does? That would make the objection a lot more specific.
The brane ripper isn’t the “Kill 99 people and then thingy,” is it? I am too lazy to page back to see what that was called. And I thought Sciona just dropped it once she had used it. It seems as though it had been promised to Wormy after Sciona got first crack at it, but of course that promise went through a bit of modification.
Damn the inability to use a lesser than or greater than symbol without it being taken for markup even when no actual markup is used…
The brane ripper isn’t the “Kill 99 people and then [at least remake your body, which doesn’t seem to be a terribly potent ability in the grand scheme of things] thingy,” is it? I am too lazy to page back to see what that was called. And I thought Sciona just dropped it once she had used it. It seems as though it had been promised to Wormy after Sciona got first crack at it, but of course that promise went through a bit of modification.
No, the “recharged with 99 souls” was what was used to restore her body, and handed over to Lia, Wyrmil was after the Regenator
But why would either of them want a field full of tentacles?
Sydney has videos with suggestions.
Deus has plans to the max. I wonder what he’s going to make Sciona do with it.
Deus is a Xanatos Gambit machine. And I love him.
Welcome to the club.
Give it to him, by the sounds of it.
Sounds to me more like he knows what he wants done with it but doesn’t care who does it.
Yea, you could be right there.
Phew, that puts Deus in a better light. I was worried that he wanted to steal it from her. I feel far happier now that the apocalypse device is just intended for Sciona.
Um … actually …. I may need to rethink that.
How I call it going down…
“Oh, the heroes found your base… so sad and sorry for you. So, you’re wanting to make a portal to another realm? Here, you can use my base. I’ll even help stabilize the portal for you to prevent accidents.”
So Sciona goes through the portal, leaving Deus a permanent portal to Dimension X for his everyday use.
“Deus has plans to the max” … Yea to sleep with her.
I think you’re selling Deus short here…Sleeping with Maxima is probably only the first step in what he plans. I mean, yeah it’ll be likely that he could then ask for her signature in one of his books, but he’s got greed fueling his infatuation with her. Once his infatuation with Max if fulfilled, his greed will have him wanting to own her., much like Sciona has described her plans for Deus.
So far, Sciona has only paid for looking at Deus’ list of what he took from the vault, but she has yet to pay for Deus actually giving aid to track down the Brane…So what does he have planned for Sciona? Probably continuing use as a manipulated tool, I’d guess.
That’s a lot of identical books…
For realz. Where does he find time for the villainy?
Thats easy, by letting others do the actual work of villainy, while he sits back, has his fun, and profits from the results.
The mark f excellent leadership is appropriate and effective delegation.
And all butt one is empty :P
Long hair and plate armour are not friends… or they are too much. Anyway, I like ma fare share of plate armour but also love my long hair.
I end up using that net they use in citchens unther the helmet or the hood.
Have you considered getting a Custom helmet forged, that lets your hair out the back, like a
plumed helmet?
Assuming you are OK with risking it being yanked off in battle or burnt by dragon fire.
Or used as a handle for flinging you, like Anvil was (by V?)
Book I read, the heroine twined the equivalent of barbed wire into her hair. Nice surprise for whoever grabbed it.
Had a similar idea: braid the hair butt have a spiked chain in the middle (probably just the last third or so, full length wouldn’t be as effective) with a spiked ball or chakram at the end
Haha, nice link! I love the wheel of cheese reference.
Puts me in mind of early 90’s Iron man, when Tony Stark had long hair, yet could take and out the helmet on without even needing a hair net to not snag it all.
https://woolongtalks.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/iron-man.jpg
and yes, this was not a well drawn cartoon series.
I have a theory about Deus.
i think he made a deal with a redonk powerful cosmic entity that if he slept with a member of every race he would gain infinite power and that’s why he has those books.
it sounds like something he’d do, not as his endgame, just a side job.
I really like this theory, not because i think it’s canon but because it really fits with what we know about Deus… and I fits with my theory as to how he got Vale as his Bodyguard, given her hinted at non-human nature.
Due to the huge number of supernaturals and aliens he also got immortality as a side effect.
(Which was probably what he wanted all along.)
Hinted at non-human nature? We saw INSIDE of her. She’s clearly some sort of eldritch abomination.
You mean that is not what you look like when your head is cut open?
*peers at Whatnow*
You sure? Can I test, just to see?
::tosses a ball and hopes that is sufficient distraction to get this idea out of Yorp’s head::
*bounces after ball, barking*
“picks up the rusty hacksaw and looks around for Weatherheight”
*brings back ball, and seeing no-one else around puts it at DR.REVENGE‘s feet, tail wagging*
Oh noes, that looks rusty!
*grabs hacksaw, in teeth and runs off with it*
Dofnt wowwyfs. I shwal pfuts it in Cofcka Cofla, fow a day. Itfwll be goodf af new, wfhen I bwingfs it bwak!
Tried cleaning a frying pan with the new Coke, didn’t do anything :(
A frying pan will be made of stainless steel. Which has chemical properties (a chromium film on the surface) which interfere with such techniques.
It is important to avoid using harsh scouring pads with them, likewise any sharp implements, which might scratch that protective surface. With such precautions rust can be prevented from getting a claw-hold, as stainless steel is naturally rust resistant (but not rust proof, as you found out).
Once rust has gotten there though, this is apparently the way to get rid of it.
No, this was a more modern pan, some sort of ‘non-stick’ surface
It’s not rust, it’s more the ‘non-stick’ has stopped being fully ‘non-sticky’, and that’s just the interior surface…
Oh, you mean ceramic coating. Well, unless you want to go the full jewelry mode polishing technique, it’s not going to get a lot better.
The whole deal with those coatings, which they NEVER EVER mention up front, is that the pans cannot be used at high temperature. If you ever put it on a burner past about 6, it’s a done deal. Coating is still there, it just lost the slick.
As I was saying, I THINK a drill with about three cloth buffers would bring it back, one doped with about # 600 emery, then 1400 for the second (and a heckuva cleaning job to make sure you got all the #600 off) and then actual polishing compound – cerium oxide does a good job on glass lenses, so I’d presume it works on other ceramics.
Never got up the ambition to do it myself. If you try it and it restores the surface, let the world know.
I take it that you’re referring to Vale as being the cosmic entity, right?
If so, that might be why she “likes to watch.” That’s the only way that she can confirm for herself that Deus is keeping his end “up” towards the agreement.
Then again, I’m wondering something else about such an agreement: If an entity can actually deliver on the promise to grant “infinite power” to someone else, then what happens to that entity? By definition, granting infinite power must certainly destroy the entity, because granting anything less than “the infinite” would leave that entity with nothing.
Relearn your math. Infinity minus infinity can still be infinity.
So I can eat infinite Yorpie Snax™ and still haz infinite Yorpie Snax™ left?
I luvs you!
Depends on the infinity.
Aleph1 Infinity – Aleph2 Infinity =~ -Aleph2 Inifnity
but
Aleph2 Infinity – Aleph1 Infinity =~ Aleph2 Infinity
Depends on the entity, and their motives. Who wants to live forever anyway? Especially if phenomenal cosmic power comes with itty bitty living space?
That gives her another reason to watch: proof that he actually did the act.
Maybe he gets a little of the essence of every woman with whom he sleeps, thus increasing his personal power.
Well I mean if we’re talking like he has magic and/or powers, it could also be a thing where he summons shadows or eldritch abominations to do his bidding and he needs to be able to visualize how he wants them to look. Maybe he can just grab a book and make a minion that looks like an old lover. Maybe Vale is exactly that, shadows given a pleasing outer appearance.
Which would mean Deus has super harem powers in addition to literally banging a woman named Harem.
Or maybe Vale herself watching all of these encounters give Vale powers, and is the reason she is with him.
Or maybe Deus IS Vale, and Deus is just a psychic projection of Vale’s subconscious?
that was a great page, nothing like seeing that the “villains” are actual people, instead of props for the heroes to fight against.
+1
Your comment about the eraser shavings made me laugh a lot more than recent stuff in the comic. That said, I know how important it is to set the stage before the big show.
One of the other artists I follow is also digital.
He was offline for a week or two when his stylus just fell apart.
I know they’re too expensive to have a spare, but keep that part number and next day delivery handy.
My daughter has a spare, but it’s because she thought hers was lost. And no, they aren’t cheap.
Her recommendation on the use of her Intuos tablet is to put it on a stand. She absolutely cannot draw anything with it lying flat.
Perhaps one of the reason profession atist stands (for traditional artwork) and drafting tables always had a tiltable work surface.
I couldn’t get my brain to work with the Intuos, looking on the screen and drawing somewhere else just didn’t work for me. I got a used Cintiq 12, then went to a Ugee 2150. Like the Ugee, but I miss the tilt feature that Wacom had, also really miss the airbrush pen.
I actually have some spares. My original stylus got so much use that it began to demagnetize or something. It’s quirky but functional, but I replaced it anyway. I also have another stylus that came with my Cintic Companion, and that’s usable on my main screen. I also have one of the art pens that will track barrel rotation, so if your program supports it, you can rotate your brushes as you apply them. Clip Studio Paint actually does this, but the cursor doesn’t reflect the actual bush tip shape or the rotations, so it’s kind of useless.
Your drawing tablet is also a screen?
Like a large hires color version of the card reader at the supermarket?
Daughter has been wishing for one of those forever, she really likes the Cintic. Those pens are odd little bits of electronics, if you’ve never seen a video breakdown of one, it is interesting. Not much in there but a few coils and a couple of capacitors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEWhjtKtmU
Fecking oww…. that hair rip part looks exceedingly painful. So question…. are all those volumes filled with his former lovers? If that’s the case… just how many STD’s has he had and what lengths did he have to go to get rid of some of them? I mean, you catch something off a Draugr you’re gunna need some really potent healing magic to get rid of that.
I theorized STD proof as one of his superpowers.
That or he can buy the world’s best condoms.
The current theory is that the books list all the individuals of all the (non-human sentient) races Deus has learned about, & that a few of the subjects have … special … additional notations … added, if he’s slept with them.
“Next time remember the body armour and jar of marmalade”
What type? o_O
Wait, SmugD slept with Paddington? :eek:
Spiky.
He is exotic.
Spiky Marmalade? Or Lady Marmalade? (check out the costumes :swoon: )
Exotic is better than erotic when talking SmugD :P
Is that Sarah Dash in the foreground? Regardless of who it is, yum.
And also, three black performers, 100% white audience. Yes, this was television in the ’70s.
Yeah, back in the 70’s, people didn’t give a shit about colour, just whether the music was good or not (now it’s the other way around: focused so much on colour and ending up with shit music)
You managed to completely miss my point. 100% white studio audience because of course the show is catering to a white viewership. If the studio audience was 25% black it would have turned off a lot of white viewers in the ’70s. Because it was ok to have a black group perform for you, but mingle? Break out the torches!
Nopal flavour.
Oh, prickly pear, had to look that up (to see if it was a real thing or not :P)
Check page 235 of his book.
Rule 34, and Rule 63.
Do not test the depths of the well of madness.
Ooh ooh. Sneaky and duplicitous. Deus you is a bad man!
Man that armour seems to hurt putting on, giving a temporary black eye-like effect. It looks far too deep in panel 2, just to be shadow.
Nah, the pain isn’t from putting the armor on. The pain is from getting her hair caught in the armor.
Gotcha.
Yeah the black is just from her cartoonishly enlarged eye.
I guess Sciona will not be visiting Barbarian any time soon. Not with her ability to restyle her own hair, in the blink of an eye.
Glad it put Deus out, having to redraw her portrait!
and de-shed the carpet.
‘Restyle’ may be being a bit charitable. She should still book an appointment with Barbarian. A bit of layering, some highlighting.. it would really bring out her inner evil.
Guys, he’s the Barberian, not just some thug…
Barbarian – from the Greek “talks like a dog barking”.
No offense, Yorp.
If he were the Berberarian, his superpower would be to make the carpet match the drapes.
Barberian.
Oh wait you were making a rug joke :) My bad.
If her were the Babarian, his superpower would be becoming an anthropomorphized elephant prince.
Burberrienne.
I doubt that the Barberian would go to the beach to ply his trade…Sand gets everywhere.
He once visited a chocolate factory but kept wanting everything and being a brat, so he became Blueberrian.
Oompa Loompa doompadee doo
I’ve got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompadee dee
If you are wise you will listen to me
Who do you blame when your kid is a brat
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese cat?
Blaming the kids is a lion of shame
You know exactly who’s to blame:
The mother and the father!
Oompa Loompa doompadee dah
If you’re not spoiled then you will go far
You will live in happiness too
Like the Oompa Loompa doompadee do
Doompadee do!
All these barbarians spins… and I accidentally misread one as Beiberian, and it’s just not working… my brain is rejecting the concept and it won’t even try to visualize it (thankfully). Thanks to you guys, I have now learned that I have a psychically impenetrable brain.
…today I heard Bieber compared to Mozart on NPR…
Best to make sure that person is not a fire arms holder and gets back on to their meds as soon as possible.
Not that I am a Mozart fan, but I can distinguish the difference in quality.
:-)
Reminds me of being on stormtrooper patrol, in Paragon City, when my squad came across a mob of Oompa Loompas! We had great fun posing together. The screen shots should be on one of my old hard drives.
*waves paw in direction of computer graveyard*
You’ve lived an interesting life.
It hasn’t ended yet, plenty more interesting things to experience
Full marks.
He does know women restyle their hair at the drop of a hat, right? It has been so long with my daughter that I no longer remember her original hair colour.
With the expressive faces in the ‘inkless’ style, it’s like the art just shifted again. A sort of animated-cartoon feel, even. This is going to be interesting.
I think it has worked well for all the characters. Deus is looking particularly good. The only noticeable fail, for me, was Ariana.
Interesting ear clip she showed in panel six. Is that new?
Dabbler has one.
An anti-magic and/or anti-psi charm?
Dabbler’s is 135% resistance to Debuffs
I should imagine it has been hidden by her hair to date. Although there were one or two shots where it may have been visible, but I do not recall noticing it.
Definitely not on in previous pages going back to the fight. So wondering if it might have meaning like another character has been known to use.
Hmm, I think I’ve spotted a flaw in Sciona’s armor, it covers too much. Doesn’t the protection of women’s magical fantasy armor increase in direct proportion to how little there actually is of it?
Only if bad writing is involved.
*Gasp* Did you just accuse Kill la Kill of bad writing?
Except the amount of clothing one wears in Kill la Kill has zero relation to one’s power level. For pure strength, all that matters is the clothing’s purity. Yet making too much physical contact with sentient fabric poses a great risk to one’s free will.
That is why, in universe, awakened godrobe forms are kept minimalist.
Sounds safest to just wear an armband.
or underwear
For guys, sure. ;-)
YORP, Mistress Sydney said you need to put your collar back on.
Woof!
I mean, TECHNICALLY, save for Junketsu and Senketsu, it’s actually inverse. the MORE clothing to wear, the more powerful it is because the applied phlebotinum has to be cut with normal fabrics.
Junketsu and Senketsu are designed the way they are because they are packing somewhere between three and ten times the active ingredient into a form factor that won’t get their user strangled and eaten when they go into Active form.
…Or if Dabbler is wearing it…
The female protagonist in Curse Of The Azure Bonds in later novels has it revealed that her chainmail with the plunging cleavage display is actually heavily enchanted, so while it looks quite vulnerable it’s better than wearing plate mail. One enemy tried stabbing her between the breasts only for the blade point to skid off the invisible magic force harmlessly.
Yups :D
Same with Wonder Woman, as I understand it. She can tank tank rounds in her birthday suit, but once she puts on the armor that Hephaestus forged for her she’s next best thing to invulnerable.
If we’re going off the recent Wonder Woman movie, then it would seem that Dianna has “dramatic invulnerability”. In that she has to remember that she really is an invulnerable demigod.
Several scenes where she’s not actively engaged in combat (but is attacked anyway) that some sort of token wound (’tis but a scratch. No, really, just a scratch.) is the result, but when on the offensive displays near invulnerability (deflecting bullets, crashing through stone walls, etc).
Her being as invulnerable as Superman came much later in the continuity. There’s absolutely zero reason to wear a pair of bullet deflecting bracers and bother with deflecting bullets if you can just charge a machine gun nest and rip open concrete bunker with your bare hands, after all. She couldn’t do any of that when she was first introduced, but power creep ensued.
There is a comic that shows why she deflects with her bracers rather than do a Soupcan (hint, lots of jiggles going on)
I had that game!
But yeah, that’s a justification for the cheesecake, but look at the practical side of things… Paying for an invisible force field to cover your boob window has got to be orders of magnitude more expensive than just wearing a full coverage suit of armor. And hell, if you can afford the force field, then add it to a set of full coverage armor, because in the D&D setting dispel exists, antimagic fields exist, etc.
It’s the flimsiest of excuses to try to cover “sex sells.”
Only if the best writing is involved. Because it’s a hilarious trope-foil, and who doesn’t want to look good in armor?
People who like living.
That comes down to skill, not protection: you could be fully encased in plate armour, and still die like a rookie
Even a skilful person can be hit by shrapnel.
Don’t get much shrapnel during a sword fight…
We live in an era where you need to cope with more than just swords. Even Sciona herself uses grenade launchers!
It didn’t seem to bother someone like Spider-Man much, even though he wears little more than spandex since the beginning of his super hero career. Between his spider-sense & reflexes, I’ve seen him dodge lightning bolts. Although he’ll try to insulate his uniform if he knows he’ll be fighting Electro or somebody like that, he’s dodged lightning that he wasn’t expecting or prepared for.
And then again, there’s also plenty of examples of Bullet Proof Nudity that became a trope from martial arts movies…And even GURPS has a write-up on how it can be used in-game too.
Grrl Power does throw in a touch of realism every now n then though. Heatwave’s lost toe is a token reminder of that. A Team machine gun immunity is not likely to be a standard feature.
No, it really does come down to protection. Skill is a completely separate discussion, and is irrelevant to the point. You don’t see raw privates wearing the full battle gear while their veteran sergeants run around in shirt sleeves, after all.
… Why does she suddenly have bangs? She didn’t make any part in her hair, and she didn’t cut any of it multiple times/at a different length. I think her new style would’ve been better off without it, I always thought of thick bangs as being veeery 2000’s.
I think the multiple wing passes was indicative of cutting it multiple ways. Plus it is an indicator of what she was doing. We don’t, for instance, see her standing up or each step that she takes to get to the exit. If the end result required her doing a parting, then that was part of the process.
… Wise words for RPGs, too.
…and very 60’s, very 70’s, very 80’s, very 90’s, etc… the trend comes and goes. Personally, I like how recent hairstyles have become pretty much whatever looks good. Gives a nice variety.
If you look at panel Chop (aka #5), she has her hair standing straight, which means the hair at the front would have been cut as well
Sciona doesn’t seem to worry someone will pick up her hair for some tracking or blood magic spell.
Deus will sell them to Archon under an intermediate soon enough, lol
That was literally the first thing I thought of – Deus salvaging her trimmings for nefarious purposes.
Perhaps that is how he expects to make her use the item his way.
My first thought was the opposite, she is leaving bits of herself behind for nefarious uses/spying on Deus.
Granted that would show more forethought and planning that she has exhibited so far…
I’m not sure how much good quality intel could be gleaned from inside the dust-bag of a Hoover…
During Europe’s Middle Ages, that was an essential part of the village Barber’s job.
He was entrusted to make sure that EVERY LAST HAIR he clipped got collected & safely burned, so that no witch could use it, to bind a curse onto any of his customers.
I know, right? That’s like, Magic User 101: “Don’t leave bits of yourself lying around where people can get at them”. You’d think a Blood Mage would know better.
Long hair. the bane of every combatant.
i love how he corects the hair in the book too.
He ought to stick some of her real hair in the book while he’s at it.
Sciona is now in pursuit of Cooter,by the way where IS Cooter???
He’s going where Wyrmil wants to go. Sydney thought he/they was/were going to wherever Sciona’s blood portal led to, but Wyrmil may want to go somewhere else. And, if the portal led somewhere other than the lair they left when going TO the vault, Cooter and/or Wyrmil may not even know where the other end is.
And wherever they’re going, it’s someplace that Wyrmil thinks the Council can’t find them. (Note that even Deus is not aware that Wyrmil has merged with Cooter. As far as Sciona, the Council, and Deus are concerned, Wyrmil is dead… which is going to be a rude surprise if/when they catch up to him.)
He seemed very much to be going to a specific destination, rather than simply evading capture.
After watching Cooter’s flesh warp, I’m thinking the Council has a pretty dang good idea Wyrmil’s not dead.
Well, Decolette figured it out pretty quickly, so I’m assuming the others did afterwards as well. :)
The Council and Archon should know. Sciona and Deus shouldn’t, not having been there. But could learn through their sources in the council (for Sciona) or by whatever other extraordinary intelligence gathering methods Deus uses. He indicated that he had some idea of where it was, so, if he knows that much, there is a good chance he can find out the remainder.
Considering what Sciona did to Cooter, she’d have no reason to believe that he’s still alive unless Deus told her. While he most likely wouldn’t tell Sciona that Harem’s his data-source, that’s doubtless the reason that Deus knows about the “Wyrmil/Cooter Merger”.
I can definitely see how Deus might figure it out.
He regularly hires Cthilla, and already knew ALL the members of Sciona’s team by name, including Wyrmil (although not Cooter, who was already thought of as being dead by the point where Deus came in). It stands to reason that he probably has an idea of Wyrmil’s powers and abilities – not to mention he knew which item Wyrmil wanted, and what that item was able to do.
If Harem said anything to him about Cooter (which is more likely than Deus knowing who Cooter was, since Coot’s some relatively unknown human who was NOT a member of the Council or a super ), he could probably pretty quickly put two and two together, since I figure that Deus is more intelligent than Decolette (and most people, at least from an investigative point, since he seems to be very much like a ‘Batman’ or ‘David Xanatos’ when it comes to intelligence and strategy).
I should mention though that it’s POSSIBLE that Deus might know who Cooter is if he’s an actually capable monster hunter, given that Deus has hired extraordinary non-super humans before. Although somehow I’d find it doubtful that Deus would have hired Cooter, given Coot’s intellectual shortcomings and Deus having a much better selection to choose from.
It’s definitely possible that Deus might know who Cooter is/was, and it needn’t be as a capable monster hunter or former employee. Looked down upon is still looked upon; he could be the Elmer Fudd or Inspector Clouseau of the monster hunting community, and on Deus’s radar as someone to be kept clear.
What he would need is the knowledge that Cooter was part of the Sciona Gang in the first place. Otherwise, even if they were close friends, he would only have the two plus two of “Cooter’s gone missing” and “someone’s decorating the vault”, which aren’t necessarily two sides of the same story.
And I’m guessing she cut her here just to annoy Deus. As we can see now hes altering the picture of her that he drew so that it matches her current look.
Panel 3 makes it clear that she cut her hair because it got caught in the armor.
I’ve never dealt with loan care myself so easy enough to miss. Also as I look back over it the does look like she Snagged herself in the 2nd panel But was that drastic haircut truly necessary?
It offended her, so yes.
Long hair has a tendency to get stuck everywhere – even under yourself while sleeping. It can be realy annoying.
Tend to find long hair gets ‘stuck’ more when tied in a ponytail than when loose
My personal experience was – for me it doesn´t matter. They both got stuck while sleeping. Now I am back to short hair.
Sleeping is one thing, but what really annoyed me was the way it tended to yank my head when I sat down carelessly. Having your butt land on your hair can really be painful.
Same thing: loose long hair doesn’t seem to get ‘stuck’ as often as tied back hair, personal experience naturally
Depends on your hair, and how you tie it back. Mine’s the sort that’s super fine and loads, so any amount of wind turns into the straight poof- braid, or bun ideal and preferred tie back methods- but being able to rock the 3-foot tall Mohawk at metal concerts makes growing it out.
Lol. Good reason for putting up with the hassle.
I used to go to quite a few metal concerts, as a friend was a metal head, and she dragged me along periodically. The music ranged from ‘the stuff that made my throat hurt’,* through the OK to ‘OK listening’ through to some ‘pretty good’.
Then I got a cybernetic implant, which allowed me to feel the resonance of the music, deep within my chest.
At which point I got what she was feeling a lot more. The sore throat stuff still had the same effect, but everything else went up a grade in my appreciation.
It is a music genre that you really can ‘feel the music’.
* In sympathy due to the the singers rasping so much, that I knew they must be doing damage to their vocal chords.
So, you could feel the noize? :D
Mildly Annoyed Deus is my favorite Deus.
Even has the initials “MAD.”
Add a extra D and he’ll just have to worry about cyborgs getting is way.
Deus Is Concentrated Kaka :P
Now that sounds like a big, steaming load of crap…
And conveniently marked with an ‘X’ :P
Only if KAKA stands for Kick-Ass x2..
and watch as sciona discovers why most women who spend significant amounts of time in armor tend to keep their hair short.
A shame, really.
Long hair, bound-up in a sheer Nylon netting, can add an extra layer of protective padding to the inside of a helmet.
Brienne of Tarth, for example.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/93/Brienne_of_Tarth-Gwendoline_Christie.jpg/220px-Brienne_of_Tarth-Gwendoline_Christie.jpg
I don’t get it. It’s like this was the first time she put on that armor? Or just the first time she forgot to pull up her hair? Still it’s funny.
Maybe it wasn’t the first time, but the time that “broke the camel’s back” as it were.
Seems more like she was trying to ‘put on a show’ (not that sort of show, not everything is about fucking fucking) and didn’t hold her hair out of the way, and then decided “Fuck it!” and showed off how versatile her wing-blades were (plus to leave hair all over the place :P)
Before her orc body makeover she had a kind of topknot hairstyle. Tied and ending at the back of her head, with the sides shaved up high. So she is probably just getting used to her new, longer hair. But now she’ll have to get used to her new, shorter hair. It’s still got sides though, so still more hair than she wore previously. I guess she thought that the kinda-topknot look went better with orc couture?
As to the post’s sub-note … he might be pulling her hair out of the carpet for a long time (unless he replaces the carpet) but it will make him remember what they did before her hair cut.
A VERY Interesting something to remember. At least in his mind.
Sciona’s tracking Cooter; ARCSWAT is tracking Cooter. Fight scene in 3… 2… 1…
And yet there is one being with eyes already on Cooter.
ALL HAIL THE ALL SQUIRREL!
No! You don’t f*** with squirrels Morty!
Nah, he’s just mad because he sent a lesser-minion Scout to shadow behind Coot, but he lost the trail.
That must have made him nuts.
I used 3d (Second Life) to create my comic. I could build whatever I wanted as scenery, make my own poses, and ran a stableful of alts as the characters. Then I flew around the scene in 3d using a SpaceNavigator, taking stills, changing lighting, modifying poses, and sometimes even rebuilding scenery until I got it the way I wanted.
Then I took the stills, picked the best, and started layering on various effects, smoothing, enhancing, blurring, sharpening, and sometimes pixel-by-pixel rearranging. It was fun for a long time, then it started wearing on me, even with the efforts I took to make it accessible with my disabilities.
I WISH I had learned how to just draw this stuff in the first place. I’ve tried to learn to draw, even hired tutors to teach me. I can do it…sort of…but being impatient, and a tech-head, I used a different method. But give me a good set of pencils, the sweet long-point sharpener I tracked down, and some paper with a good tooth to it, and there’s something relaxing about it.
I like a General’s 555 Layout pencil best.
What’s a ‘brane’, and why does it need an artifact-grade ripping? ;)
Brane, as is brane cosmology, I think. In string theory, it’s an object with any given number of dimensions. For example, we live in a 3-brane universe. Mr. Mxyzptlk is from a 5-brane universe. Flatland was a 2-brane universe.
You sure do have a lot of information crammed in there.
*examines head*
No sign of leakage. Most impressive.
It’s nothing people wouldn’t be able to learn from watching Nova on PBS or VSauce on Youtube, or other science documentaries, honestly. :) When I was in high school I got curious about the shape of the universe, and started reading up on it and watching stuff about string theory, and that involves M-Branes and D-Branes and p-Branes, etc. (and I’m realizing that theoretical physicists probably make up these names when theorizing how the universe works just to mess with normal people so that people have to take words like that seriously).
Oh I am a subscriber to PBS, amongst other science and breaking tech news. It is just impressive that you can retain that info, along with all your reams of encyclopedic comic expertise, as well as your professional knowledge. Not to mention all the other bits that you come out with.
It is an eclectic, but deep, mix. Worthy of mention. You sure ain’t no pea brain!
Aw shucks.
Also, kudos on the pun at the end of your post, Yorpie. :)
Was thinking something like ‘membrane’, seeing how the ‘brane ripper’ is used to cut the barrier between dimensions, so maybe a bit of both?
“Brane” is actually lexiconically derived from membrane. The idea was that each universe would form a cohesive whole, that their dimensions were internally bound, but that interesting things could happen if their membranes intersected, or pinched, or broke apart, etc. (By this concept, if I recall, a black hole is actually our own brane popping due to gravity… whether it’s budding off into a different universe or just spilling out into the multiverse as a mess is a point of debate, as I understand.)
Traditionally called a white hole, when looked at on the other side.
Of course even if going into ‘nowhere’, for matter to exist it would need something with dimension. So it could be creating its own pocket universe. A bit like a scab forming on a wound. Would the laws there mirror our own though, or just those necessary for the matter and energy to exist?
yeah, string theory likes to use the term P-brane, its a bad pun, Parallel Membrane.
basically its the buffer/divide between dimensions, which is paradoxical, as different dimensions occupy the same space yet are separate, its kind of like how a photon can be both a particle and a wavelength at the same time.
P Brane is giving a term to something which has no actual physical property and doesn’t exist in any conceivable state that can be properly visualized, yet exists anyway.
A bit like crypto currency.
Shame it is generated by performing otherwise useless calculations. The sooner we get one that is mined by a meaningful activity, the better. Analysing things that will help in medicine, astronomy or even some of the math intense mathematical problems out there. Or a mixture of the lot.
My personal favourite is generating a currency through altruistic deeds. Something I shall try to promote should I ever get a platform with a broad enough reach. Amongst a bunch of other things. :-D
So it’s being used interchangeably with ‘dimension’. Which begs the question
“why not just use the word you already have?”
Because “Brane Ripper” sounds cooler than “Dimension Ripper”. Especially with the homonym.
Plus “dimension” actually covers a lot more than the way folks are taking “brane” to imply. It could be considered to be a height-ripper or a time-ripper, for instance.
Not ‘dimension’ itself, butt the barrier between, which is why personally feel it’s more of a ‘Brane Ripper (being the shortened form of Membrane) than a Brane Ripper
While a membrane and brane are both physical objects, the Ripper seems to be designed to cut the barrier between rather than an object within
Well one can argue that the Parallel Membrane(s) also qualify as their own dimension, however it is a dimension that only exists in a state of reaction and interaction between dimensions.
Well it does have wreth. It is kinda like … width … no … time … mmm … you know it has …
*makes a wreth-like gesture, using tail and paws*
Dave, dude, Dabbler votives never get stale! :D
Membrane ripper, cuts dimensions basically I think,
I think that it’s the thing that Cooter/Wyrmil used to bring the tentacles in. That seemed to look like a sickle rather than a scythe though. But it fits with the name.
Making it ironic that it was in the pillar that Sciona broke to get back at Deus…
Yea, that was the first thing which struck me.
:-D
Which had me believing that it wasn’t, butt have been proved to be wrong
Yeah, was thinking more ‘Brane Ripper (as in abbreviation of Membrane) rather than Brane Ripper
A Membrane Ripper would cut the barrier’s between dimensions, a Brane Ripper would just cut an object that passes through dimensions (to clarify, a ‘brane’ is a physical object, a ‘membrane’ is a selective barrier)
Technically speaking, a membrane is a physical object also.
Not in this case,
it is neither matter nor energy P-branes, parallel membranes is simply a way for humans to visualize what can’t properly be visualized, something that connects, coexists, and seperates the dimensions, typically referring to the cohabited 12 *roughly* dimensions that electrons and neutrinos can pass through, but expanded in science fiction to other more exotic…or less exotic honestly dimensions.
Basically the P-brane is the buffer code of reality that prevents the cohabited dimensions from collapsing in on each other in a state of utter chaos and annihilation. visualized as a membrane that can be selectively permeable *hence certain sub-atomic particles able to pass through*.
Like the Big Bang, gotcha.
That was really teeny once. It just got fed up with all its phenomenal cosmic powers and such itty bitty living space.
Oh noes, now we are back to a steady-state multiverse!
I like to think of it more as an imperfect state of equilibrium.
Nah, steady state had uniform expansion plus the magical creation of new matter to keep density uniform. We have accelerating expansion, and no magical new stuff.
Have you considered that the universe may not be expanding from the Big Bang? Rather they are just using that as an excuse to get further away from us, before we get out of our solar system.
With the exception of a very small amount of matter, such as Voyager, and energy, such as radio waves, we will never get out of our solar system.
I’d love to think otherwise, but it has become very clear that we are a short sighted species and will probably wipe ourselves out, or at least reduce ourselves to a level far below one which could even contemplate space travel. The ability to think and plan beyond a single lifetime or even a few decades, or to even think beyond immediate profit or power, is well beyond most humans.
We can do if we engineer society to ensure that such urges benefit the whole. Capitalism works because it exploits such desires. With some nasty side effects, sure. But having a social system that channels selfish urges, to mostly good effect has given historical advances.
So there may yet be a chance for humanity.
Oh…I just got it.
Deus is a complete dork with money and possible superpowers.
Don’t mind me, I’m just going to sit here and love panel six for a while.
::sighs happily::
What do you see in her? Dude, she doesn’t even have hooves!
It’s the ears….
And white hair on young looking women has always been a thing for me…
Yorp… Equines have a long history of enjoying and being excited at the prospect of giving humans rides. Short hair likely means less rump itching during the ride. Doesn’t explain the white hair though.. young woman does though, as they’re generally less aggressive riders.
Big platinum blondes wearing horned helmets, singing loudly, and riding on equus vulgus alba.
White hair in general is pretty good looking when distinct from grey.
“Hey look, Deus can draw. No, he’s not an author insert. If he was, he’d be using a shmancy mechanical pencil and not a No. 2 like a savage.”
My brother and I use “like a savage” in this way all the time, so this amused me more than it should have. :)
Hah! You call that savage drawing? This is a Savage drawing!
Psst. The latter is a really good channel to subscribe to, if you are interested in things being made.
I’m assuming the Brane Ripper is that weapon that Wyrmil/Cooter used to bring in Trent as a diversion while they escaped?
That is my assumption. It would explain why Deus was unable to put it in his shopping trolley.
Plus its form is similar to the name. The one pictured was a sickle (one handed) whereas Sciona described the Bane Ripper as a Scythe. But the two are often confused. I have the advantage of regularly using a scythe though, so know the difference well.
And, of course, being a powerful artefact it may well be able to change its form, to appear as either.
“Regularly using a scythe”? Presumably for lawn maintenance?
Yorpies side job is the Reaper of Dogs (not in a bad way, he’s just there when their time is up so they have a friendly face to help them cross over)
He’s the one driving the anime truck?! That explains some things… Driving with paws.
No, that would be the Catcher, not a friendly face
Hey, I can drive!
Yea. Escorting the dead is just a part-time gig.
Bring an Escort is his deal job.
Like Star Butterfly’s scissors.
I wonder why she did not use a butterfly knife?
“Brane” ripper, or “Brain” ripper?
After checking the definitions of both ‘Brane’ and ‘Membrane’, and seeing it in action, going with the more likeliness that it is a contraction of ‘Membrane Ripper’
Brains have membranes too.
Just pointing out that it wasn’t a typo
Your comment was good. I was just looping it round.
And that bring us to Looper…
You think he has ever talked to her about her liking to watch?
He did that once, just once, that’s how he got the ‘X’ :P
In a world with magic, those hair clippings are going to be a problem.
You need to say that in a deeper, more sinister voice.
In a world where magic rules supreme, the dark forces of horndog villians work their night moves on the forces of evil.
No, no!
M̝̥o̺̜̼r̩̰͓̻̲e͙͠ ̠̠͘ḻ̨ì̫͓̼̹͇k͟e̜̥͖̮͜ ̼̬͕̻̗t͙͘ͅͅͅh͠i̢̲̼s!̹͚͇̰̠͞ͅ
No, that’s clearly Batman.
Thought that was the NuBane
Even if the laws of Contagion and Sympathy hold in this universe, I’ve got to assume there’s some way to disrupt that sort of magical connection; in the modern world, where there’s about a million ways to get ahold of someone’s DNA, no one would be safe otherwise.
If you have a group of clerics blessing all of the coins coming out of the mint they could all be protective amulets. See, credit card companies are evil.
Ooo, currently #1!!
#2 now down by13
she does rock the short hair
I can’t help but feel that even with the her hair cut short so it’s not caught, the hairs that are still stuck in Sciona’s armour are either going to be really uncomfortable, get mocked by Sydney in a later comic, or both.
Did he just erase her signature from her portrait? Bad manners, dude!
No, adjusted her hair
Indeed. Not that we saw her sign in the first place. She may not have, or it may be on part of the page we cannot see, or even the facing page.
Last panel shows the pencil the correct way around, implying he is in the process of drawing her new style (remember, it’s not just short, butt tied back)
How do you tie back a ….?
On second thought, I don’t want to know.
There are rule 34 websites for that.
See, I’m thinking if Deus has powers, they’re tied to those books. I mean, he could be really OCD but why change her picture after her haircut? I mean, the book was accurate to what she looked like when they slept together. Why update the book to match something that happened afterwards? My guess was her adding her signature started some sort of magical bonding process, and because it wasn’t finished he had to update the picture so that the magic could take hold. It could be something as “benign” as, once the magic sets in, the picture will morph to match current look of the person. It could also make him immune to their powers/spells/etc., or give Deus control over them. Pure speculation, though.
I originally thought this also. But I knew he wouldn’t have erased her signature immediately after asking for it, so then I figured she just wrote “You’re a dick” or something like that. But when there was no elaboration I knew that didn’t make sense. Only the comments above made me realize that he was re-doing her hair to match. Which is a bit silly, since if he did that with his entire encyclopedia he could be re-drawing a few women every day…
In this case though she changed her appearance before she left the room. Others he may have had to redraw with a limp or perhaps a sneer.
In a world filled with magic users and whatnot, is it really a good idea to leave all that hair at D’s place? He would probably know a few who can do stuff with it – everything from old voodoo tricks to extracting dna sequences and finding she’s allergic to citrus…
is reminded of a Slayers OVA where a wizard found some hair and tried to make a clone of Lina Inverse, and instead ended up with a small army of Naga Seyruune instead.
Nagas, you say?
You asked for it, behold the horrors of magical cloning,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4haJieKnEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffiiYPg5qSc
naturally I find a normal full scene for this a moment later,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRyXTnl7Jxw
“she’s allergic to citrus”
GASP!
You’ve just revealed Sciona’s weakness! It’s why she became a Blood Mage instead of a Juice Mage!
I guess she tried to use a blood orange once…
Heh.